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I Went for a Jog

I am not a runner. I dislike running with a passion. But something has been nagging at me. Since losing 22 pounds and getting into better shape, I was curious about how much my cardio health has improved, so I went for a short jog this morning.

I don’t have jogging gear; hell, I don’t even have proper running shoes. I generally work out barefooted (yes even when I’m on my exercise bike). The tennis shoes that I have for general use are a pair of Sketchers Shape-Ups which are AWESOME for my deformed, super-arched feet (As a side note, I never had any illusions that they would tone or firm my butt in anyway). However, they not meant for jogging. So I went digging through my closet and found my old pair of Nikes that I had gotten about 10 years ago that are actually meant to be ran in. These poor shoes are completely discolored, but have held up very well over the years–I may actually have to get me a new pair like them.

I threw on a pair of leggings and the only pair of exercise shorts I own that actually have pockets in them, tightened my shoe laces, popped my head phones in, and hit play on my cheap-ass mp3 player. What was I listening to you ask? What song, what band, what artist could motivate April Loebick into going for a jog at 8:30am when it was still freezing outside?–It was a Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens as read Paul Adams. Even when I’m pretending to be Sporty Spice, I have to nerd it up somehow.

So with frost still coating the ground, I set off! I first took a quick rest at the top of my driveway. What? My driveway is freaking steep, I didn’t want THAT to be my starting off point! But soon, I started on my way and realized that I was jogging with ease. I did the loop in my neighborhood 3 times for a total of 15 minutes. It wasn’t a lot, and I know that some of my readers are now laughing their asses off, but for me this is a big deal. I’ve mentioned before that my cardio system has never been up to par. I have to be very careful when I do anything that get my heart rate up because it shoots up very rapidly without me realizing it until I feel the need to pass out.

Before, I couldn’t jog for more than about 2 minutes on a good day. So while it’s a small victory, it’s still significant. Being able to go 15 minutes no problem is a huge win for me. Baby-steps!